And then I installed Windows 8 ...

Windows 8 – Upgrading to the Release Version

Intro

As a Microsoft Partner, I was able to download the release version of Windows 8 Pro. Partners are normally given access to new software a little earlier than Joe Public in order to be given time to familiarise themselves so as better to support their clients. Microsoft coined a great term for their using their own software as “Eating your own dog food”. And, no, it is not free!

Downloading

In the good old days Microsoft would DHL a DVD to the partners, but, with cost cutting together with a fast inexpensive Internet Service in most non South African countries, one is down ‘encouraged’ to download software rather than have it arrive on a DVD.  That works overseas, but I can assure you that it simply does not work on the piece of wet string, otherwise known as my 384Kb/s Broadband Internet Connection supplied by Telkom.

At best it takes 3.5 Days to arrive. At worst, it fails to download after 2.8 days.  Fortunately friend allowed me to use their much higher speed connection and it came down in 2 hours.  Of course it then took 27 hours to copy it to my site J.

Anyway, it eventually got here.

Installing

In preparation of this exercise, I had already run a full backup of my Windows 7 Ultimate machine, so I decided to take what many would consider to be the Cowboy approach, I decided to do an in place upgrade, as this would retain all the installed software and settings in the new version.  The risk to this approach is that one might have a long snag list to sort out after having converted, but if the snag list is empty, then it is a lot less trouble!

So I created a DVD and proceeded to run it. The very first thing required by the install is a valid key.  There is no 30 trial period. Having entered the key, I was given simple choices:

1. Wipe everything and do a clean install.
2. Retain my data and reinstall all my software.
3. Retain all data and software.

All things being equal, option 1 is the preferred method as there will not be any old bits of software lying around to cause instabilities. Equally, there is pretty much no risk of carrying any malware across from the old installation.

Option 2 is the next best option as it saves copying data back and forth and, as the data may include movies and music; this could be quite a large amount of data.

Option 3 is discouraged as it can result in a much more unstable and problematical end result.

So, with not a little trepidation, I chose option 3 and carried on with the installation. This proceeded to run for some 2.5 hours.  Rather than stare at a screen showing percentage of completion, I chose to watch some movies on TV. 

Running Win 8

When I eventually returned to the screen, I was invited to give the 3-finger salute and log in.  Which I proceeded to do.

Shock Horror! I found myself staring at the ugly Start Page.  It should prefaced with a health warning as the encounter could drive you to smoke and drink L.

So I hot fingered it to the Desktop screen where all my little icons welcomed me with smiling faces.  This was good. J

Suddenly I got a pop up informing that Explorer had been prematurely shut down by the C++ redistributable. This was not good L.  I managed to figure that it was due Visual Studio not liking its new environment so I remove and reinstalled it, which fixed that problem.

A couple of other programs were also unhappy and were restored to their previous state of euphoria with a reinstall. The most surprising being an accounting package which I first installed in April 2002. In Window 7 I ran it in XP mode, now I once again have it running as a normal app!  Not bad.

Pièce de résistance.

A friend pointed me to 

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/08/23/classic_shell_gives_windows_8_a_start_button/ 

and now a pretty good impression of the Windows 7 Start Button proudly resides at the bottom left of my Task Bar.  Happiness J.

The challenges I still need to address is my Kodak scanner the drivers of which are no more, but I am still hopeful of fixing them. The other is my Gadgets, without a calendar and clock in my face I have no idea as to when I am and whether I’m hot or cold.  But I believe that there are solutions to remedy this disgusting bit of sabotage.

So, I’m happy. As is my PC.  

Neither of us needs spend time on the ‘Metro’ Start Page and Windows 8 does seem a bit more responsive. 

Conclusion

My PC contains lots of stuff! I often install software in order to test it or to solve a client's problem. 

I equally often don't get around to cleaning up, so my PC has a lot of stuff running on it, probably much more than does yours.  

If my upgrade could run as smoothly as it did, then yours also should.

The IT World is Hotting up!

A Bunch of New Technology is On the Horizon

Microsoft will be releasing a bunch of Windows 8 devices:  The new Nokia Windows 8 Phone on September 2^nd followed by the new Windows 8 PC operating system and Surface Tablet on 26^th October.

Apple will be releasing their iPhone5 together with a mini iPad on 12^th September.

Google together with their newly acquired subsidiary Motorola, will be launching the Motorola Droid RAZR HD phone on September 5^th.

Way Forward?

If you are not a specific manufacturer’s fan boy, then this is going to get really confusing!

Each of the Big Three will now have an Operating System, a Smart Phone and a Tablet! This is the first time that these three players have had such a head-on product range.

The one player who has been left out is the ailing Research in Motion who make the Blackberry phones, although they do have a new operating system in the pipeline, scheduled for release in 2013.  This may be too little too late and we may see Blackberry disappear further into the mire before the update can have any effect.

Which way should you go?

In most cases it boils down to personal preferences, in some cases choice is dictated by corporate requirements and sometimes choice is dictated by the devices.

If one does not rate the similarity of use as important, then apart from corporates, anything can be a mix and match, but you will probably end up with a bag of licorice all-sorts, and, as always happens with licorice all-sorts, there will be one colour that you hate!!!

The best bet is to go with Tablet and PC from the same manufacturer.  So, iPad + iPhone, Windows 8 + Windows 8, or Android + Android.

Unless you are in the habit of doing a lot of data input on the phone, the choice is less stringent, although navigation may become a bit confusing when moving between devices.

In the case of non-Apple products, in addition to models, one has the further choice of manufacturer.

Apart from Microsoft, other companies will be releasing Windows 8 tablets and Windows 8 Smart phones.  Similarly there are many Android device manufacturers from which to choose.

While the iPad has been around forever, the Surface is a brand new animal and the demos look quite exciting, so I would be tempted in that direction.  It would also, maybe, convince me that Metro is cool J.

Oops, not allowed to call it Metro any more – it’s now called Windows 8. 
Oops^{2 –}  hot off the presses, apparently it’s Metro again!
I’m going just call it 0rtem.

Meantime while we’re all waiting, as a Microsoft Partner with early access, I’ll be downloading and installing the release version of Windows 8 over the next few days.

As my Chinese friends keep wishing me, I suspect I will be living in Interesting Times!

913 Scam

I’m not going to get caught.

Everyone thinks they’re invincible and is not going to get caught out by a scam.

Well, that’s what my client thought. Until they discovered they’d paid a serious wad into a scammer's bank account.

I was called in to try and find what had gone wrong, and this is what was uncovered.

What went wrong

It turned out to be a simple eMail scam.

Well, not so simple.

Their accounts manager received an email request from a trusted creditor advising that his company had changed their bank account details and would they please upgrade their records.

The email was crafted on the creditor’s company standard, and, unless one checked the raw source, it looked, felt, and appeared to be absolutely legitimate.

Even if one replied, querying the request elicited a legitimate looking out of office reply.

What should have happened?

Simple. Ensure that any change of company details such as bank account, delivery address, phone number, email, any contact details, are double checked.  And this check must take place via an alternate communication  channel, preferably with somebody other than the original person.

But that’s a bit paranoid, isn't it?

Not really.  In the case cited above, the fraud was carried out by someone with insider access and knowledge.

Maybe an unhappy employee working out their notice, or someone who’d read Kevin Mitnick’s  2002 book, The Art of Deception, where he describes in some detail the art of ‘social engineering'  and then applied these techniques.

So, next time a creditor advises of some crucial change, be paranoid and double check.

You just may not be as lucky as my client, who looks as if, this time, they’re able to recover a big chunk of their cash. You might not be as lucky.

What is my next ‘PC’ going to be?

A few years ago, this was an easy question to answer. If you’re older than generation Y, it would have been a new desktop. If you’re part of generation Y or younger it would have been a new laptop. Fairly straightforward. It was just a matter of looking at the features, choosing a manufacturer and model, considering the price and then relooking at the features.

Today it is not quite that simple.  Now we can choose from a variety of devices varying from cellular phones to super workstations. Between these extremes we have tablets, netbooks, notebooks, and desktops.

Our decision now needs to include how and where the device is to be used.

1. Do we need to carry it around?
2. Is it only for communication, or is it to be used for more onerous tasks?
3. Is a full sized keyboard mandatory?
4. Have we a need for multiple screens?

And even some of those questions are not mutually exclusive!

Cell phones can do email and web browsing.

Tablets have built in keyboards.

Netbooks are tiny Notebooks.

Notebooks have the same processing power as desktops.

Desktops have the storage once reserved only for large servers.

Super Workstations can house multiple processor chips, each with multiple cores.

And the list goes on!

And even the device categories have choices! For instance some manufacturers offer solutions across all the device types, with compatibility of the Apps. Which means that you will be able to use the most convenient device.

So maybe ONE device isn’t enough? Maybe it's horses for courses?

So maybe you’ll have a Smartphone for your pocket, plus a Tablet for your meetings, together with a multi 23” screen PC in the office!

Just upgraded to Release Preview of Windows 8 and apart from the usual start menu gripe, I'm quite impressed. It's a lot smoother with a keyboard/mouse interface than the Consumer Preview, a big step up from consumer preview.

IE10 is pretty much identical with Google Chrome.  NICE.

A workaround for the lack of a start menu is to pin apps to the desktop taskbar, but obviously that will only work with a limited number of apps.

Thinking about it, the real problem is that items in the start page are no longer grouped and accessible via a menu system. The Start page quickly becomes unusable when one has to scroll forever TO FIND AN APP.

Adding a method of grouping will make this a really nice OS. Let's hope that Microsoft does something about it.

Windows 8 - More Thoughts

Apart from my previous blog entry on the subject, the forums have been running hot with comments about Windows 8.

Two Distinct Camps

Comments are split between the “This is a great step forward” and “This is an unusable User Interface”.

Both are wrong.

The Winning OS will cater for both Touch Screen and Keyboard users

And that OS will be Windows 8.  Unless Microsoft are unbelievably stupid!

Windows 8 is tweaked Windows 7 with a Touch Screen overlay. From the enthusiastic comments by iPhone and iPad users, it seems to have hit a nail in the Touch Screen department. http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/29/a-review-of-the-windows-8-beta/#more-5483

The problem is with the keyboard/mouse brigade.  The Windows 8 currently on show does not fare well for this group. There are too many things missing, such as all clickable items.

But this is to be expected if one looks at the test audience, the phone / tablet brigade. In my humble opinion, this release if firmly pointed to Microsoft’s main opponents in this arena – Apple and Google and this release is a strategic way of testing the water, without having to fix anything in stone.

In the keyboard / mouse arena Windows is already the de facto standard, so, obviously Microsoft has a pretty good idea of what’s needed.  Windows 7 is a very good solution.

Where to Now?

I predict that the ‘beta’ release of Windows 8 will allow an easy choice between Metro and Point & Click, probably at the App level. 

I would expect that one will be able to choose the required experience via a preference setting for each app.

Further, as much as one can currently have multiple screens, one could easily have multiple methods for input.

Why not use a Touch device as well as a keyboard on a desktop PC?

Some Thoughts about Windows 8 Preview Metro Interface

 Having spent a little time playing with Windows 8, my first impression is that it won’t be my choice of OS for Keyboard/Mouse enabled machines.  Those using it on Windows phone 7 or a Tablet will definitely feel the opposite as they do their navigation by tapping a swiping the screen.

Touchscreen is not a universal panacea.

Touchscreen solutions are not for the greater majority of PC/Laptop users.  Yeah, I know that sounds a bit like Bill Gates saying the 64KB is more than enough memory for a PC, or Thomas Watson saying “I think there is a world market for maybe five computers”, but it’s not quite the same thing.

Touchscreen don’t work standing up!

Touchscreens are not a convenient solution for the desktop user, unless they are placed flat on the desk – try using a touch screen that’s placed vertically.  Considering that most desks I look at are covered in paper, files, books, writing instruments etc. the horizontal touch screen would either cover everything else or be covered by everything else.

Touchscreens are not a good solution for everybody

Further, being a dinosaur, I simply cannot visualize an accountant manipulating his 10 sheet workbooks or that efficient touch typist capturing a 100 page set of notes, by swiping and tapping at at screen with their fingers.  I wonder how many of Microsoft’s developer team are using a Metro interface for coding. I doubt that even the Windows 8 crowd never used anything other than a keyboard and occasional mouse.

Unfortunately using a keyboard and mouse to do battle with Metro does not succeed very well and unfortunately it is a big step backwards from the Windows 7 experience.

Method in the Madness?

But, maybe this preview, and we must not forget that it is a preview, has been released by Microsoft in its current form for strategic reasons and maybe the next release will have a simple choice option  allowing one to choose from either the Metro or Keyboard interface.

Given that underneath all the finger tapping and finger swiping there lurks an all but unchanged Windows 7, this should be difficult to implement.

If Microsoft does not offer a usable choice for all the non-touchscreen users, Windows 8 will go the same route as OS2 and Chiclet keyboards.

On the other hand, if Microsoft gets it right, they will have the same OS for all user implementations which could offer some innovative licencing offers for the multi-device user. 

Maybe a clever entrepreneur can come up with a solution combining desktop and tablet, whereby the phone/tablet plugs into the desktop, thus acting as its engine, for desktop working and can be unplugged and carried in the pocket for social networking?

Computers – Convert a Major Catastrophe into a Minor Inconvenience

How will you handle things when a critical computer, one upon which you or your organisation relies, ceases to work? This could be caused by something like a disk dying, by the machine being stolen, by fire or flood.  All of those things are totally beyond your control and can happen at any time.

The risk is caused by there being a single point of failure, which is very risky indeed!

“We have backups to handle this situation” is the normal reply.  Well, that’s the bare minimum, a starting point, for without backups you are deader than dead!

But, how often do you test that these backups will in fact allow you attain a fully operational condition? 

How long does it take to rebuild the situation?

What is the impact on your business? Is this impact affordable?

All of the above are critical questions and need to be answered fully and truthfully.  Are you aware, that as a director or partner, you can be held responsible for maintaining good governance? Disaster Recovery is a measurable of Good Governance (King II & King III).  Makes one think, doesn’t it?

Fortunately there are readily available options which will allow for a fast recovery of the situation. 

These are not new and have been in use by the major corporate players for a long time. The drawback is that until now, the cost has been extremely high, but this has changed – now there are options based upon the same techniques and processes, but at a fraction of the cost.

The solution is based on something called a Virtual Machine. Simply put, a Virtual Machine is software which processes a set of disk files which describe a physical computer. The beauty of the solution is that when the Virtual Machine is running, it looks and operates exactly like the physical machine it is emulating!  In fact there is a major push to move physical computers to their virtual counterparts, especially where an organisation has five or more machines it its computer room, but that will be the agenda for a future article.

How does this help me?

Well, if a virtual copy can be made of each of your critical computers, then these Virtual Machines can be used in place of the physical one.

As a Virtual Machine is simply a set of data files, it can be stored on an off site disk drive.  This removes the risk of a single point of failure. 

The Virtual Machine can be up and running with very little delay.  What kind of delay can I expect? This is where the rule “The more you spend, the faster the recovery” applies. The large financial corporate institutions will spend millions to keep the delay down to thousandths of a second, but a single laptop user can probably tolerate being down for a few hours.

While recovery is a critical part of the process, so is having the ability to test the process without risk. For instance, at the beginning of this article I asked how often your backups were tested. It is amazing how unreliable untested backups are, and, being in the middle of a crisis is not the best time to discover that your backup is inadequate!

If you have a Virtual Machine it is a simple exercise to run a full restore and then to fully test that it has accomplished what was expected. This test is exactly the same as if it had taken place on the original machine, but it can be undone and redone as many times as is necessary in order to guarantee that it works 100% correctly.

In fact a full Disaster Recovery test should be carried out, at least once a year, as a matter of policy.

Has your laptop become a bit too clunky to carry around?

While the latest smart phones are doing their best to replace the laptop, they are probably too small and restricted to use as a PC at a meeting or presentation. And, while the normal 15” laptop handles this requirement very well, maybe it’s just too large and heavy to carry around comfortably.

That’s where the new kid on the block, the Netbook, comes in. These are small, light and very portable 10” screen laptops. And they are inexpensive too!

Small enough to fit into a handbag/briefcase, they have a full sized keyboard, making them very easy to use. Running Windows 7, with 300GB and larger disk drives, they can easily handle all the information you’d need at a meeting. If needs be, they can also hook up a to larger screen or projector!

So, if you need a computer when are away from your main computer, this is something you should be considering for those times away from home or on a business trip!

By the way, I offer various makes, including Acer, Asus, HP, Lenovo and Dell, in various configurations.

And a comment:

Hi Rob

I have been using the Acer netbook from the day they were launched – I am now on my second.

And I totally support your comments.

I use it in conjunction with Dropbox and Gmail (for back up of all emails and diary). All my work on my main PC is automatically updated via dropbox on my netbook and, via Gmail, I have access to all my past emails.

I keep the netbook in my briefcase and then have immediate access to all my data if in an offsite meeting or travelling.

My Acer has the built in 3G card which I keep regularly charged with data bundle so I have full internet access at all times.

 Greg

Why the Cloud cannot be the only repository of your data!

http://www.extremetech.com/computing/114803-megauploads-demise-what-happens-to-your-files-when-a-cloud-service-dies

 "If you’re only just joining us, late yesterday the US Department of Justice shut down Megaupload, arrested seven employees, and seized assets worth more than $50 million (including three 82-inch TVs, two 108-inch TVs, 14 Mercedes, and other rich boys’ toys). This huge indictment poses many questions, but today we’re going to look at just one of them: What happens to all of those files that people had stored on Megaupload’s servers?


This morning the web is littered with hundreds of millions of broken Megaupload links. There was no warning, no preamble: If you stored files on Megaupload, they are gone ...  "

Of course, that's only one of many reasons as to how you can lose your data in the cloud.

Local storage is not going to go away any time soon, especially if the data being stored belongs to a business.

So is cloud storage all bad? Obviously not.  Cloud, as a secondary backup to your archival backup, can be very useful, if only because it's universally accessible. But don't forget that the data is stored on a third party site and is accessible to others, others over whom you have no control or knowledge.  So, if you do store data on a third party cloud server, do make sure that it is compacted and encrypted so that it's not easy to access.

 In the end an external USB is probably a better place to store things.